This invention relates to a container for dispensation of wet tissues packing a plurality of wet tissues stacked one upon another so as to be pulled out from the container one by one.
There have already been proposed refillable containers for a tissue package containing therein a plurality of wet tissues stacked one upon another. One of the containers is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1996-72949 (REFERENCE), which has a top wall formed with an opening allowing the wet tissues to be pulled out from the container one by one and a lid allowing the top wall inclusive of the opening to be opened and to shut. The top wall has its peripheral edge detachably fitted into respective top edges of side edges. The lid is swingable in a back and forth direction of the container on a hinge formed integrally with the peripheral edge of the top wall. The lid may be disengaged from the side walls to remove the top wall and thereby the container may be refilled with a new tissue package. After the container has been refilled with the new tissue package, the top wall may be fitted again in the respective upper edges of the side walls.
Within the tissue package, the wet tissues are stacked so that each of the wet tissues is folded in two and one half of this wet tissue is interleaved between respective halves of the wet tissue immediately underlying the aforementioned wet tissue and folded in two and so on. To pull the uppermost wet tissue out from the container, the lid is opened, a part of this tissue exposed through the opening is held between the user's fingers and this wet tissue is pulled upward against a frictional resistance generated between the edge of the opening's periphery surrounding the opening and the wet tissue being in contact with this edge. The wet tissue having been completely pulled out from the container pulls the wet tissue immediately underlying the aforementioned wet tissue and partially exposed through the opening. In this way, the wet tissues can be pulled out from the container one by one. After each of the wet tissues has been pulled out from the container, it is important to shut the lid down and thereby to close the opening in order to prevent the remaining wet tissues within the container from being dried.
In the case of the container disclosed in REFERENCE, the part of the wet tissue exposed outward through the opening may protrude outward beyond the peripheral edge of the lid if the part of the wet tissue exposed outward through the opening collapses toward the side opposite to the hinge of the lid. If the part of the wet tissue protrudes outward beyond the peripheral edge of the lid, this part of the wet tissue will prevent the lid from being shut down. As a result, the lid can not be properly shut down or the lid will be shut down with the part of the wet tissue interposed between the top wall and the periphery of the lid.